Norfolk & Suffolk: Building Case For Rail Improvements

Greater Anglia are trying to get key influences and stakeholders to help secure rail upgrades for the East Anglian rail network by 2019.

Ruud Haket, the Managing Director of the Abellio-owned train operator has written to over 200 regional stakeholders asking them to write to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), Department for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail requesting that the following key improvements are made to the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Londonand the West Anglia route.

Real improvements to journey times and line speeds on both the GEML and West Anglia routes

Additional track capacity just north of Chelmsford - ideally long loops parallel to the existing lines in the vicinity of the proposed Beaulieu Park station

Extension of the third track from Stratford to at least Angel Road and ideally Brimsdown on the West Anglia route

The company is encouraging people like MPs, local authorities, business organisations and rail user groups to help get the region on to Network Rail's Strategic Business Plan for 2014 to 2019. The ORR is currently consulting on Network Rail's plans - with final submissions due in by 19 February - before the plans are finalised and approved by the ORR in the autumn.

Ruud Haket, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said:

"At Greater Anglia we are passionate about delivering a better and continuously improving rail service for East Anglia. We are already doing what we can in the short term to upgrade services (and already making real progress in terms of punctuality and reducing the amount of disruptive weekend engineering work), but this is a vital chance for us all to try and secure the additional infrastructure enhancements on the GEML and West Anglia routes we all wish to see, sooner rather than later - to the benefit of customers, communities and the economy across our region. We will be responding to the ORR's consultation and proposing that a commitment to the delivery of these key improvements by 2019 is included in the final approved Strategic Business Plan agreed by the ORR later in 2013. We encourage stakeholders across East Anglia to do the same, so collectively we can fulfil the aims set out in the East Anglian Rail Prospectus."